Clues by Sam Aug 14, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨💼
clerk
B1
🕵️♀️
sleuth
C1
🕵️♂️
sleuth
D1
🕵️♂️
sleuth
A2
👨💼
clerk
B2
👨🎤
singer
C2
👨🎤
singer
D2
👩🎤
singer
A3
👮♂️
cop
B3
👮♀️
cop
C3
👨✈️
pilot
D3
👩✈️
pilot
A4
👩⚕️
doctor
B4
👩⚕️
doctor
C4
💂♂️
guard
D4
💂♂️
guard
A5
👩⚕️
doctor
B5
👨🌾
farmer
C5
👩🌾
farmer
D5
👩🌾
farmer
Final Board State
This puzzle is fully solved.
All characters have been identified as innocent or criminal based on today's clues.
See how each clue leads to the final result
Skip the reasoning — 16 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Aug 14, 2026 — a Tricky solved in 18 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Tricky and resolves with 16 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Daniel (C1), Erwin (D1), Floyd (A2), Gabe (B2), Isaac (C2), Karen (D2), Lassi (A3), Oscar (C3), Quita (D3), Ruth (A4), Sue (B4), Tom (C4), Unai (D4), Vicky (A5), Wally (B5) and Zegov (D5); the remaining 4 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.D1 · Erwin → CRIMINAL
Claire’s clue says there are exactly two innocents in row 1, and those two must be connected. Claire is already one of those innocents, so the other innocent has to be next to Claire in that row. That means the other innocent can only be Alex or Daniel, because Erwin is not next to Claire in that line. So Erwin must be criminal.
02.C3 · Oscar → CRIMINAL
Erwin’s clue says that Oscar is one of the two criminals to the left of Quita. That directly identifies Oscar as a criminal. So Oscar must be criminal.
03.A2 · Floyd → CRIMINAL, D2 · Karen → CRIMINAL
Oscar’s clue says exactly 2 corner people have a criminal directly below them. There is already 1 known such case, so this clue still needs 2 more cases. The only direct-below people still relevant to those remaining corner cases are Floyd and Karen, so both of those have to be criminals to supply the two required cases. So Floyd and Karen must be criminal.
04.B2 · Gabe → CRIMINAL
Floyd’s clue says every corner person can have at most one innocent neighbor. Alex is a corner person, and Alex already has one known innocent neighbor: Claire. Gabe is also one of Alex’s neighbors, so if Gabe were innocent, Alex would have more than one innocent neighbor, which would break the clue. So Gabe must be criminal.
05.C4 · Tom → CRIMINAL
Gabe's clue says that Wally has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminal neighbors is above Xia. Among Wally's neighbors, the only person who is above Xia is Tom. So the one criminal neighbor of Wally who is above Xia has to be Tom. That makes Tom criminal.
06.D3 · Quita → CRIMINAL
Erwin’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals to the left of Quita, and Oscar is one of them. So the people to the left of Quita, namely Lassi, Max, and Oscar, must contain exactly one more criminal besides Oscar. At the same time, Claire’s clue fixes row 1 as having exactly 2 innocents, and those two innocents must be connected. Tom’s clue also says that exactly one row has exactly 2 innocents. If Quita were innocent, the remaining unknown people named in these clues would have to make all of those requirements true at once, but they cannot. So Quita cannot be innocent. That makes Quita criminal.
07.C2 · Isaac → CRIMINAL
Quita says Daniel has exactly one innocent neighbor. Daniel’s neighbors already include one known innocent, Claire, and the only neighbor there whose identity is still unknown is Isaac. Since that one innocent is already accounted for, Isaac cannot be innocent. So Isaac must be criminal.
08.A4 · Ruth → CRIMINAL
Erwin’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals to the left of Quita, and Oscar is one of them. In that left-of-Quita group, Oscar is already the one known criminal, so among Lassi and Max there is exactly 1 criminal. Isaac’s clue says there are exactly 2 doctors with a criminal directly above them, and the relevant people are Lassi, Max, and Ruth. Since Lassi and Max together account for exactly 1 criminal, Ruth has to provide the second one. So Ruth must be criminal.
09.B5 · Wally → CRIMINAL
Ruth’s clue says there is exactly 1 innocent among the people who are both in column B and on the edge. That shared group is just Claire and Wally. Claire is already the 1 known innocent in that group, so Wally cannot also be innocent. So Wally must be criminal.
10.A5 · Vicky → CRIMINAL
Wally has 4 criminal neighbors in total, so among his five neighbors there is exactly 1 innocent. Ruth and Tom are already known criminals, which means that single innocent must be one of Sue, Vicky, or Xia. Karen says there is at least one innocent to the right of Vicky, and to Vicky's right the only unknown people are Xia and Zegov because Wally is already criminal. So the innocent needed among Wally's neighbors must come from Sue or Xia, not Vicky. That makes Vicky criminal.
11.C1 · Daniel → CRIMINAL
Vicky’s clue says the number of criminal pilots must equal the number of criminal sleuths. The pilots already have 2 criminals, while the sleuths have only 1 criminal so far. If Daniel were innocent, the sleuths would stay at 1 criminal, which would not match the pilots’ 2 criminals. So Daniel must be criminal.
12.A1 · Alex → INNOCENT
Claire’s clue says the two innocents in row 1 are connected. In row 1, Claire is already innocent, while Daniel and Erwin are criminal, so the only possible second innocent there is Alex. If Alex were criminal, then row 1 would not have both innocents connected as the clue requires. So Alex must be innocent.
13.D4 · Unai → CRIMINAL
If Unai were innocent, the remaining people named here would still have to satisfy all three clue requirements at once: Wally’s neighbors must contain exactly 4 criminals, exactly 1 of those criminals is above Xia and that one is Tom, and each corner person can have at most 1 innocent neighbor. Those corner limits are already tight in the listed way: Alex already has 1 innocent neighbor and no unknown neighbors, Erwin has no unknown neighbors, Vicky’s only unknown neighbor is Sue, and Zegov’s unknown neighbors would be Unai and Xia. With Unai set to innocent, the same remaining people would also still have to fit the row condition that exactly one row has exactly 2 innocents, and that combination is impossible. So Unai at D4 must be criminal.
14.A3 · Lassi → CRIMINAL
Alex’s clue says the edge cells must contain an odd number of innocents. Right now the edge already has 2 known innocents, and the only unknown edge people are Lassi, Xia, and Zegov, so an odd total means either exactly one of those three is innocent or all three are. Karen’s clue says there is at least one innocent to the right of Vicky, and among those people Wally is criminal, so that innocent has to be Xia or Zegov. If Lassi were innocent, then the edge would need either just one innocent among Lassi, Xia, and Zegov or all three; but with Karen’s clue requiring Xia or Zegov to be innocent, that makes the needed combination impossible. So Lassi cannot be innocent. That makes Lassi criminal.
15.B3 · Max → INNOCENT
Erwin's clue says Oscar is one of exactly 2 criminals to the left of Quita. The people there are Lassi, Max, and Oscar, and Lassi and Oscar are already the 2 known criminals in that group. If Max were also a criminal, there would be 3 criminals to the left of Quita, which clashes with the clue. So Max must be innocent.
16.D5 · Zegov → CRIMINAL
Max says there are 4 innocents in total. Since 3 innocents are already known, if Zegov were innocent, the only innocent spots would already be used up by Alex, Claire, Max, and Zegov, so Sue and Xia would both have to be criminals. But Gabe's clue says Wally has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is above Xia. Tom is already that 1 criminal above Xia, while Ruth and Vicky are already criminal neighbors of Wally, so making both Sue and Xia criminals would give Wally 5 criminal neighbors, not 4. That contradiction means Zegov cannot be innocent. So Zegov must be criminal.
17.C5 · Xia → INNOCENT
Karen’s clue says there is at least one innocent to the right of Vicky. Among the people to the right of Vicky, there are already two known criminals, Wally and Zegov, so that group can have at most two criminals. The only person there whose identity was not fixed yet is Xia, so Xia cannot be criminal and must supply the innocent required by the clue. So Xia must be innocent.
18.B4 · Sue → CRIMINAL
Gabe's clue says Wally has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminal neighbors is above Xia. That one criminal neighbor above Xia is Tom, so the other 3 criminal neighbors of Wally must be people who are not above Xia. Among Wally's neighbors who are not above Xia, Ruth and Vicky are already known criminals, Xia is innocent, and Sue is the only unknown person there. Since that group still needs 1 more criminal to reach the required total of 3, Sue has to be that criminal. So Sue must be criminal.